The Fall

A week had now past since the procedure. It was been quite tough. In some sense I feel guilty saying that, because I have been very lucky with how my family has rallied around me, how my co-workers and boss have been understanding and how supportive my friends hand neighbors are yet I still feel somewhat entitled to a pity-party. Shame on me.

On the whole the most unexpected part was the reaction to the drugs and how I felt while coming down off them. I know it was just for a few days, but it was thoroughly unpleasant. On Monday I sat on the deck outside our bedroom and watched a sprinkler. While I watched, I convinced myself that the drugs were not having any effect on me and that I was still my normal self. It wasn't until my family arrived back from wherever they had been that I realized I had been sitting watching the sprinkler for over 30 minutes. I had drool coming out of my mouth. Yeah.... they were not having an effect alright....

On Thursday evening, I had my first (and hopefully last) fall. I was crutching through the kitchen and must have hit a wet patch or something. The crutch slid off yonder and I was in free fall. I remembered that they said at all costs not to bear my weight on my foot, so I spun around so I would land on my butt. Moments later, my casted leg hit the ground (on the heel) and I had a shock wave of pain resonating up my foot toward my toe. Not fun. The pain stayed with me most of the evening but seemed to mostly subside. It is really hard to judge pain that you are in now with pain that you were in previously. I simply can't recall if the burning that I felt last night was worse or better than it felt the previous day.

We had a bad night, some due to my foot pain but mainly due to bad news received about a dear friend of ours. Having had a complete cardiac arrest at the gym, he is in far worse shape than me and my toe. On Friday morning when I woke up, my toe was still hurting so I decided to contact the ortho and see if I could come in for a quick check. They have an urgent care facility so I was able to be seen without a previous appt. We all got in the car (I still can't drive) and packed into the surgery. The kids and dear wife went to the plush waiting room with coffee shop, which I found out later closes early on Fridays (it was 11am and it was closed already), kiddie area etc and I went to the urgent care area. Given how recent my surgery was, they were hesitant to do much with me but s it turned out, my ortho had an opening in his schedule just about 30 minutes after I arrived so he agreed to see me (instead of dealing with the urgent care dr).

They took some more xrays to check that the wire was still in place (it was) and the dr came in and had my bandages and cast removed. He looked at the wound and poked, prodded and probed and declared it all fine. My original post-op appointment (for next week) was to be cancelled and I am to see him again in 3 weeks. I asked about driving and his recommendation was to hold off until the remaining 3 weeks. He also said that if all looks good, he would put me from the cast to a boot at that time too. He said that the pin will come out at 6 weeks post op. Apparently that just 'wiggles out' with no anesthesia.

They bandaged me and casted me back up. It was quite the production. They use cool plaster-embeded strips of gauze that are wetted down with warm water, then they fix the strips in splint shapes around the leg. Within 15 minutes, the strips were rock solid. The new cast is a little different in position to the old one. My foot it at a more acute angle and slightly twisted down. I assume that was what they were aiming for... My only complaint with the way my foot is held now is that my calf muscles are a pulled a little tight - I assume that it will setting out in a day or two.